Behind a facade

9.

Fear started to overwhelm Tessa. Just the thought of misplacing the funds right before the drama club meeting, made her mind go completely blank. All the budget details for the annual drama festival, the envelope that contained the fund collection which she got from the treasurer in the morning, and finalized script, all were inside the file that she arranged in the morning.

When Tessa checked the file after the lunch break, the envelope was still inside the file. How could something go missing suddenly? How is it that possible only the envelope went missing and the rest of the documents remained in her bag with the file?

Tessa very well knew the importance of today’s meeting. The sponsors, the school board and representative teachers for the annual drama festival are expected to appear at the meeting. They are hoping to check on the budget as well as other preparations. Even an i***t could guess that they definitely will pay their utmost attention to the funds. In a situation like this, the blame will directly come toward the person who is responsible for handling it.

Something like this had never happened in Tessa’s life before. She was always being a responsible person when it comes to tasks under her watch. She made certain no mistakes occur when she is taking part in any activity and took pride in completing those activities successfully. For a person like her, this incident felt like a long-lasting nightmare.

Even though Tessa turned half of the school upside down, she couldn’t find a trace of the missing envelope. Ashley and Maddison also stormed inside the school, searching for the lost fund collection. It became chaos instead of a help to Tessa. Just thinking about it made her even more frustrated.

“This can’t be happening… this can’t be,” Tessa muttered, walking up and down inside the classroom. Her hands were shaking because of the helpless feeling she was enduring. Making everything even worse, her gut feeling was telling her that someone has deliberately done this sabotage. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find any proof to confirm her suspicion.

Suddenly, her foot slipped, and Tessa fell. Her bottom hit on the floor, giving her sharp pain. A whimper escaped from her.

After a few failed attempts at standing up, Tessa gave up trying. She felt unbearable pain coming from her right leg. Even though she wanted to check it, she couldn’t move at all because of the rising pain coming from her body. Tessa cursed under her breath, thinking about her rotten luck. First the missing envelope, now falling thanks to the slippery floor… She came here, hoping to double-check the chair arrangements for the meeting, but ended up hurting herself. How can someone be unluckier than this?

When she was about to cry out for help, she noticed someone’s extended hand through her blurry eyes.

Dakota Kent was standing next to her while offering a helping hand. An old memory popped up in Tessa’s mind, seeing Dakota. Just like in their childhood days, Dakota was there trying to rescue her. It was the same gentle gesture. A warm feeling embraced Tessa, setting her heart at ease for some reason.

Unlike in her childhood days, Tessa hesitated to grab that hand. She turned her face away, showing her unwillingness. A short silence fell across the room, making the situation awkward.

“Fine… stay on the floor like that. It’s up to you,” Dakota’s sarcastic words made Tessa look at her at once. She noticed Dakota has already taken some steps toward the door without even looking back.

“Fine…” Tessa blurted.

Even though she didn’t want to admit it, Tessa perceived that she is in a situation where she cannot refuse Dakota’s help. In Lakeville High, students and teachers rarely come to the conference room during school time. If they don’t have important scheduled meetings, nobody bothered to show up in this part of the school. Even the cleaning staff only came to these classrooms early in the morning. Considering the circumstances Tessa didn’t want to take the risk of waiting in this classroom until someone else comes when the drama club meeting is about to start.

Dakota looked back. She raised one of her brows. “What?”

Tessa inhaled a long breath, looking somewhere else other than Dakota, who is looking at her with questioning eyes. “Help me,”

Tessa felt the silence was quite long. After almost a minute Dakota’s hand appear in front of Tessa’s sight again. She slowly held Dakota’s hand with both of her hands and try to lift her body. Unfortunately, the leg pain caused her to sit down again on the floor.

“It looked like you have injured your leg,” Dakota walk around Tessa, and came to the side. Tessa noticed that Dakota is carefully scrutinizing her leg. “Let me give you a side support,”

“It’s not like I have a choice,” Tessa grumbled.

Dakota leaned closer while flashing an all-knowing gaze at Tessa. She placed her hand around Tessa’s waist. “Instead of complaining, how about you put your hand around my shoulder?”

Tessa growled, putting her hand around Dakota’s shoulder. She felt transparent under Dakota’s all-knowing gaze. Since their childhood days, Dakota had this ability to understand Tessa like no one else. It gave Tessa a nervous feeling almost all the time when she has to face Dakota. With time it scared Tessa, knowing Dakota can see her vulnerable side easily.

For some reason, she couldn’t help but notice how much Dakota has grown up during these years. She became taller and fit. Her dark hair was put into a lower ponytail in quite a messy manner. It strangely matched up with the baseball cap she was wearing backwards. Her bushy eyebrows, long eyelashes, strong chin and sharp jawline added a mysterious charm to Dakota’s face.

“Now, lean your body to my side. Don’t give pressure on your right leg,”

Dakota’s solemn voice made Tessa realise that she has been studying Dakota’s face until now. The embarrassment made Tessa want to bury herself at that very moment. She shook her head to ignore the distracting feeling while trying to follow Dakota’s instructions.

She took a few steps forward, with the support of Dakota. Tessa could feel Dakota is bearing all her body weight while being considerate enough not to take big steps. Dakota’s grasp around her waist was tight enough to prevent her from falling again but gentle enough not to hurt her. Tessa had a hard time understanding Dakota in times like these. She often appears stiff and emotionless, but if anyone needs help, Dakota never hesitated to do whatever she can even if that person is someone she dislikes.

“Let’s check what’s wrong with your leg,” Dakota suggested, helping Tessa to sit on a chair.

“No thanks,”

“Stubbornness has a limit,” Dakota stated. “Infirmary is on the first floor. It will take some time to take you there under this condition. You know that as well,”

Tessa let out a sigh. She understood that Dakota’s words are true. On the other hand, she knew if she push further, it might cause some severe damage to her leg muscles. That risk was something Tessa doesn’t even willing to think about. As a cheerleader, she was well aware of how an injured leg can change her life. “Whatever,”

Dakota smirked before kneeling in front of Tessa. “Attitude…”

Seeing Dakota’s playful smirk, Tessa felt as if her eyes are fooling her. A stiff person like Dakota Kent making a whimsical expression in front of Tessa was enough for Tessa to forget her words. Though Tessa knew Dakota for years, she haven’t seen this sort of expression on Dakota’s face before.

She found Dakota’s expression alluring. Her own thoughts surprised Tessa after realizing what she was thinking.

“What are you mumbling?” Tessa asked, with a frowned forehead.

“Nothing,”

Tessa’s gaze remains on Dakota, who is slowly placing her feet on one of Dakota’s knees. She carefully removed Tessa’s shoes and rolled up her pant upwards a bit, taking a look at Tessa’s ankle. The way she carefully and gently observe the ankle gave an unknown and indescribable feeling to Tessa. After a long time, she felt as if someone genuinely cares about her without considering taking advantage of her or expecting perfection from her. Her eyes start to well up.

“It looks like you sprained your ankle,” Dakota broke the silence among them. She looked up without giving Tessa time to avert her eyes. Tessa blinks her eyes, trying to hide her eyes.

“Is that so?”

“I am… sorry. You should have told me if it was hurting,”

Tessa shook her head from side to side. Her eyes met Dakota’s eyes when she was not expecting it. Such warm brown eyes… Those eyes carried a pure message. The concern and warmth in those brown eyes melt Tessa’s heart. Her heart skip a beat.

“It didn’t hurt. Don’t assume things you don’t know. It’s annoying,” Tessa grimaced in response. Her hands squeezed into fists. She felt at any moment Dakota could read her actual thoughts. It was the last thing Tessa wanted to happen.

A sudden change went across Dakota’s face. She blinks a few times. Then she went poker-faced, giving a bothersome feeling to Tessa.

“Okay. I only have a cold spray, let’s use this for now,”

Tessa nodded instead of saying anything to Dakota. More like she couldn’t find a single word to reply. Dakota silently used the cold spray on Tessa’s ankle. Then she collected Tessa’s stuff and helped Tessa to stand up, without bothering to say a single word.

On the way to the infirmary, neither one of them didn’t bother to break the silence between them.

…………………………………………..

When the meeting is about to start Tessa made up her mind to listen to the scolding of the principal, teachers and sponsors. After all, it was her responsibility to keep funds safe as the representative of the sophomore-year students.

Each year sophomores take pride in organizing the annual drama festival. It is considered a tradition in Lakeville High that hasn't broken for years. Remembering everyone's high expectations, Tessa felt stressed. She badly wanted to cry. If she was careful enough... if she made a backup plan... she could have at least minimised the overall harm. All sorts of doubting feelings started to pull Tessa to the darker.

Who could have done this to her? Who dared enough to do this? There are many people who dislike her. There are many people who are jealous of her. It wasn't a secret to Tessa. How is she going to find out who did this? It is impossible.

This incident will ruin everything she hardly achieved for years. Her reputation will carry a stain forever. Whoever is behind the sabotage doesn't matter in the end.

“Miss Brown,”

Tessa found the front desk assistant who is running toward her. She was waving her hand to take Tessa’s attention.

“Mrs Torres,”

“Thank god… it seems I am not late,” Mrs Torres panted, placing her hands on her hips. She took a few seconds to gather her words. “Here, take this,”

Tessa took the brown paper bag the lady was showing her. “What is this?”

“Oh… someone has placed this on my table with a note mentioning that give it to you before the meeting starts. It had the word urgent,”

“What?”

“Yeah,”

“Thank you, Mrs Torres,” Tessa gulped. “Did the note has a name on it?”

“No, my dear child. All the best for the meeting,”

After Mrs Torres left Tessa opened the paper bag. There was a familiar envelope inside the bag. The envelope that contained the fund collection.

She opened it and counted the amount hastily. To her surprise, the total amount was inside it, without missing a single cent.

Tessa grasps a chair next to her, fighting against the sudden dizzy feeling she got because of the unexpected situation.

"Who the hell is playing pranks on me!!!" Tessa cursed under her breath while gritting her teeth. Her eyes continue to glow with anger.