Page 16 of I Hate You More

I must have looked concerned because she kept glancing at me as she drove. I gave her a tight smile and nodded. “I’m fine; just trying to figure out your evil master plan.”

She grinned. “It’s practically diabolical. You’re going to love it.”

* * *

Tessa only liveda couple of blocks from my place, and while our houses might have looked similar, they couldn’t have been more different once you stepped inside. The moment Tessa opened her front door, I could hear the TV chanting thePAW Patroltheme song and her little brother squealing with delight. Her mom was yelling for him to turn it down while a remote-control car barreled down the corridor toward us.

Tessa’s home was total chaos while mine felt like more of a mortuary. It was always so silent in our house, and I rarely missed an opportunity to come to Tessa’s place. Her home actually had life to it that mine was sorely missing.

“Maybe we should have gone to yours, Ally,” Tessa said, hesitating by the front door. She looked like she’d just entered her own personal hell.

“That would somewhat defeat the purpose of our secret meeting,” Mia replied.

“Yeah, I doubt a plan to solve the Chase problem will work if he hears it all,” Miles added as he walked past Tessa and strolled into the house. “Hi, Mrs. Martin,” he called as he strode into the living area.

“He can be such a suck-up,” Tessa grumbled. The three of us were all still hovering by the front door.

“He’s probably just hoping your mom will whip up some of her brownies,” Mia said. “I’d do just about anything for one of those.”

“Me too,” I agreed.

I turned at the sound of a squeal as Tessa’s younger brother appeared in the corridor and spotted us. “Tessy,” he called with delight as he saw his big sister.

He ran toward us and slammed into her, wrapping his arm around her leg. “You’re home!” he announced with glee.

“Way to state the obvious, genius,” Tessa replied. Her words might have been mean, but her voice was gentle. Her expression was soft too until her brother peeled his hands away and she noticed chocolate covering his fingers.

“Dude, please tell me you didn’t just put chocolate all over my clothes…”

“I didn’t, I didn’t,” he cried, as he turned and ran back down the corridor.

“Mom!” Tessa shouted. “Your son just covered me in chocolate!”

Tessa’s mom poked her head out into the corridor. “Your brother has a name, Tessa. And a little chocolate won’t kill you,” she said before disappearing back to the kitchen.

Tessa let out a long sigh. “Come on, let’s go before Sammy decides he wants to attack you guys with chocolate too.”

We followed Tessa to her room and were soon joined by Miles who had commandeered a plate of brownies from the kitchen. We all moved toward him, but Miles lifted the plate out of reach.

“You guys can’t call me a suck-up and then proceed to steal the fruits of my labor,” he said. “I worked very hard to get these brownies.”

They were probably just waiting on the kitchen bench, but I decided not to argue.

“We can and we will,” Tessa said. “Besides, I’ve already paid the price for these brownies. I’m fairly certain Sammy has ruined my new skirt.” She pouted as she looked down at the dark fingerprints that stained the material.

“Plus, we’re your friends. If we don’t call you on your shit, who will?” Mia added.

“Fine,” Miles said, lowering the plate and holding it out to us.

None of us hesitated to take one of the offered brownies. Mrs. Martin could seriously cook, and her brownies were her specialty. It was yet another reason I loved coming to Tessa’s house. Shane and I mostly had to fend for ourselves in the food department, and we often resorted to takeout or frozen meals.

“So, are you going to tell us this grand plan you’ve come up with?” I asked, taking a seat on Tessa’s bed. Her room was a complete contrast to my own. My walls were filled with books while Tessa’s were plastered with posters of shirtless actors and Insta-celebrities I’d never heard of. The room was slathered in so much pink it looked like Barbie had thrown up everywhere, and everything from Tessa’s bed comforter to her lampshades was a different shade of the color. My room, on the other hand, was so bland it looked like something out of an Ikea catalogue.

Tessa smiled and took a seat next to me, while Miles and Mia made themselves at home on the huge beanbag she had in the corner of her room. “I feel like I need a drumroll or something to really emphasize the pure brilliance of my plan,” she said.

Mia rolled her eyes. “Or you can just tell us the plan after making us wait all day…”

Tessa tapped her fingers on her lips. “Or that, I suppose,”

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