The Bonfire Tale

[Lirael]

What had she gotten herself into?! How could she have thought she could do this? She was insane, stupid, in over her head, had too big of an ego, too inexperienced. It was all falling apart! What was she going to do?!


Tessa Connors swallowed hard, fumbling through the clipboard with all of her notes, her hair slipping from its messy braid and over her shoulder. She was okay. This was good, she could work with this. Her gaze skimmed over the lists again before glancing up in time to a bunch of clattering and banging. "Oh, no no no!" she exclaimed, stumbling forward. "Coolers back here, guys! Please. It's clearly marked! Jason, if you set the chairs that close, someone's going to get smoke in their face!" She was going to have a heart attack before this was over!


At 5'2, Tessa was small in stature, but big in heart. At least, that's what her mother had kept telling her. With long, dark hair in natural waves that the wind seemed to delight in tangling on a whim, skin that tended to burn rather than tan, and weird gray eyes with silver flecks that seemed to catch the light, she was certainly out of place with all of the tall, bronze and blonde kids of her class. She was small and bookish, awkward and clumsy. But she was also smart, organized. The perfect person for this sort of job.


Then why was it all going so wrong?!


Oblivious to the troubles Tessa seemed to be facing, the rest of the teens laughed and joked with each other. This was their last big hayday before school started back up again. Swallowing hard, fighting back her frustration as all of the carefully outlined plans flew out the window, Tessa finally just gave up. Grabbing her notes, she moved away from the bonfire. She just had to calm down a moment. That was all. She would calm down and everything would be fine.


Sitting heavily against a dune, she tugged her hoodie around herself a bit tighter, hugging her knees to her chest with a soft sigh. "Deep breaths, Tessy," she whispered to herself. "Take deep breaths. It's not so bad. You're just overreacting again. Just like you always do." Her eyes closing, she rested her forehead against her knees next, forcing herself to take a deep, slow breath and to let it out again. Everything would be just fine....

 

[Kyna]

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”

'Summer, '15. It's been a long ride for you, Della. Tests. Pesky kids at the summer camps. More tests. Struggling to find work.


This is good for you. A night off. A night where you can relax.


Forget about school, your friends, and most of all.. Wren.


Enjoy the night.'


-


Adella Marie Granger was by no means a regular girl. Any stranger from any standpoint of the boardwalk could tell that.


Something about her rose-colored hair and milk-white skin stood out from the crowd. Her relaxed gait was an anomaly compared to the stiff posture everybody else seemed to hold. Adella's gaze was unique, too, as it surveyed the crowd with an ominous perspective.


The night buzzed around her as she sat static at the end of the pier.


-


"Della Granger, stop moping on the edge of that boardwalk and get your booty over here!"


Adella sighed, glancing over towards the bonfire to her left. Her crazy friend waved at her, hair waving in the wind and dress fluttering with it. Ashley Love, you better not have gotten me into something I'll regret, she thought silently to herself.


"I'm coming, I'm coming.."


-


Adella gave a sigh as she walked towards the throng of teens. She never really liked the crowds of people, especially half-drunk ones and those half-naked. She self-consciously crossed her arms over her chest, and searched for her friend. Nowhere to be seen. Great. Adella scanned the crowd once more in hopes to find the perky blonde, but she seemed to have disappeared into the wave of young adults.


-


Shaking her head, Della walked away from the fire, and towards one of the dunes. Her eyes were to the sky, which had shifted from a vibrant blue to a glistening gold that seemed to illuminate everything perfectly. These kinds of moments satisfied Adella, where the aesthetic of everything fit together.


She seemed at ease.


At least, until she ran into somebody.


-


"Agh!"


Della exclaimed, crashing into the sand. She coughed, sending even more sand towards her victim's way. Quickly, she recovered, sitting up on her knees and flashing an apologetic smile towards her.


"I hope you understand. Moments like these," Della gestured to the sky. "..are breathtaking. And so are you. I mean..fuck.. Sorry."


Adella groaned, standing up.

-

​

 

[Lirael]

Oh, everything was NOT fine. Not fine at all. No matter how hard she tried, Tessa's mind continued to reel, racing through all of her recently abandoned lists, pointing out what was wrong, what she could have done different. The worst part of all of this was that she just knew she was being mopey and depressed and she hated herself for it. Good god, when had she turned into such an angsty, emo whiner? She gave a deep, heavy sigh, lost in her thoughts until she suddenly found herself face first in the sand.


Coughing, she scrambled to pull herself back up, brushing the sand out of her eyes quickly and out of her mouth as well. She looked around quickly before spotting the culprit, a girl she didn't recognize. She managed to get herself straightened again, brushing off yet more sand (how could it cling so well!?), and she gave her own apologetic smile. "No, it's fine," she said quickly. "It was completely my fault. I should have sat a little further out of the path." It took her a moment, though, for the other girl's words to catch up, and she blinked, caught offguard again, and she found herself blushing furiously.


In truth, Tessa had always leaned towards other girls, but that was a considerable no-no for the Catholic raised girl. She'd grown up hearing stories of fire and brimstone, burning for your sins and creatures gnawing at your eternal soul. To say she was in the closet was an understatement; Tessa had taken up residence in Narnia.... To hear this girl say she was breathtaking, well, it wasn't something Tess would have though she'd ever hear from another girl. She inhaled slowly, finding herself looking at the stranger in a new light. She was a beauty herself.. perfect skin, and that hair! GOD, what Tessa would give to have hair that color.... Her blush darkening, she quickly averted her eyes. "No, no, it's fine," she quickly said, blushing as she smiled, biting her lip. "I, um... You.. must be new here."


((Sorry about the delay, had an internet problem and just got it back today!))

 

[Kyna]

Great. Now you've gone and insulted a perfectly good girl, Della.


She squinted, looking up back at the person she had almost squashed flat minutes earlier.. apology still clear in her amber eyes. Della sighed, walking back up the dune before doing the unthinkable. She sat down next to the frazzled girl, and looked her straight in the eye. Any reasonable person would have walked away in shame after doing such a thing, but by no means was Adella reasonable.. or normal, at that. Della then nodded, pale red hair bouncing as her head moved.


-


"New? I wish. I'm visiting, with my friend Ashley. However, that crazy girl seems to have disappeared for the night. I'm actually liking the town, though, because the schools are good and the food is even better. My folks are thinking about moving. It's quaint. Close. Quiet. The epitome of their retirement plans."


-


Della spoke all at once, washing her words over the girl as if she were the sand and Della's dialogue was the ocean. The rose-haired girl spoke with a jazzy undertone, similar to actresses in old 50's movies. Generally, she did have an old-timey air to her.. the movie-star pout, relaxed walk, an answer for everything..


-


Della stuck out her hand to the girl, smiling.


"Adella Marie Granger. Nice to meet you."


-


(agh, sorry for the length, I'm multitasking!! Hope it's enough to work off of)
​

 

[Lirael]

{{More than enough, not to worry!}}


Tess blinked, looking back at her as she spoke, and she found herself relaxing. It was surprising, really. She wasn't that comfortable around other people as a general rule; she was just too awkward, too clumsy. She lacked social skills. To put it mildly, she was a socially deprived dork. But there was something about this girl that really did put her at ease. Even if she did make her unwanted preferences start to surface.


Clearing her throat, she shifted, smiling. "I know Ashley," she said without thinking. Ashley was... well... Like all of the others at her school.. "She's, um.. she's pretty nice.." Ugh, not the wait to start off the conversation, Tessa. She shifted again, glancing back up at the stranger before smiling, holding out her own hand. "Tessa Rose Connors," she admitted, taking the girl's hand carefully in her own. "It's nice to meet you."


She found her gaze trailing down to their joined hands, reveling in the little tingle that ran through her before she hurriedly dropped it. "I, um.. So, where are you from? I mean, you said you're not from here, so where are you from?"

 

[Kyna]

"Roses are soooo pretty.."

Della ignored Tessa's question and flopped onto her back, looking back up at the golden sky. She exhaled, tracing patterns in the sand. Della didn't seem to care what others thought of her and her peculiar actions. If they don't like it, it's their loss.. she would always tell herself. The smile upon her lips sweetened as she slipped deeper into her thoughts..

"That's one of the reasons why I dyed my hair. To reflect something I love. You can't really do anything else unless you want to get a tattoo, which I do.. but my parents would totally kill me. I'm already dead enough for being open about my political views. So, it was either the hair or being disowned by my folks. The hair won, obviously. So, I came up with this really ridiculous backstory, something to do with a tragedy with a friend and the color was some kind of tribute to them. I don't know. But, honestly, I'm just really, really into flowers."

Della giggled, turning her head from the sky back to Tessa.

"Where am I from? Hm. Well. I mean, I was just on that pier over there, like five minutes ago. Oh! And, before that, I was at that tiny teeny little shop over yonder."

She gave a sly grin, pointing towards the locations she had mentioned.

"I'm from good 'ol Beverly Hills. Too many rich people. Not enough cute girls. Let alone queer ones. You feel? Gotta escape some day."

With that, Della laughed again-a tinkling sound that cut through the air- and sank back down into the sand.

​

 

[Lirael]

Tattoos? Hair dyeing? Different political views than your parents? Beverly Hills?! Tessa found herself staring at this strange young woman, and she exhaled shakily, swallowing hard. This was, so much different than she would have expected, but then, her parents were very restricting. They wouldn't have dreamed of exposing her to this sort of influence. She found herself suddenly self-conscious around the other girl; Well, more self-conscious than before. Everything about her was natural; no tattoos, no dyed hair.. She inhaled slowly, hesitating as she kept her gaze on her feet now.


Digging her toes into the sand, she let the silence stretch between them before she finally worked up the courage to answer another question. "So.. you're.. you're gay then?" she asked, trying to be nonchalant in her asking. Her laugh was definitely infectious, and she smiled a bit, inhaling slowly, finding herself relaxing all over again.


{{Bah, sorry about the length. Roomie is playing Dragon Age and I have the distraction XP }}

 

[Kyna]

(No problem honey! Enjoy yourself)

Della laughed at the absurdity of her question. How could Tessa not notice? Della had basically called her stunning barely a few minutes ago. The confidante attitude, the hair, the mentioning of political views, she had basically tried to drop hints that she was of homosexual nature. Tessa's ignorance was painful.

"Darling, I'm gayer than if you had rainbows shooting out of your eyes with Neil Patrick Harris and Ellen DeGeneres riding on them, on their way to Canada to get hitched with their lovers. Does that answer your question?"

She smiled back up at the sky as if it were her friend.

"Adella! Delly! Over here!"


Della groaned, sitting up and glaring down at her beach blonde friend who waved crazily from the bonfire.

"Quick. Do something. Make her go away."

Della frantically looked at Tessa, hoping that she would be able to avoid Ashley right now.
​

 

[Lirael]

Tessa blinked at that, startled, and she bit her lip, trying to think fast. Ashley, ashley... Was dumber than abox of rocks, but it was rude to say so, but she did have a big crush on the high school quarterback... She looked back towards the bonfire, smiling pleasantly. "Ashley, I think Jake Thompson was looking for you!" she called back. "Something about the movies!"


She just hoped that worked.


As she waited for Ashley's response, she thought about what Della had said. As far as she knew, she was the only lesbian in town; it was a small town, after all, and with her family being one of the more prominent ones in the Catholic church, she couldn't exactly go around asking people their orientation. Swallowing hard, she looked back at Della, smiling a bit. "I'm, um.. I'm kinda gay too.." she admitted softly.

 

[Kyna]

"Oh, my god.. thank you so much. She dragged me into this. Literally all I wanted to do while I was in this town was to visit your hot springs and play at the beach. Social settings are not my ish. For reasons obvious. Or not obvious enough. I should up my game."

laughed, braiding a strand of her brightly colored hair absent-mindedly.

"I should get a necklace reading, 'Single and Gay as Hell. Come at me, Ladies.' Or, or, post a matrimonial in the paper!"

The tall teen laughed some more at her words, almost doubling over at the thought. She could always make herself laugh, that's for sure.

Della stopped laughing as she heard Tessa speak more, letting the silence grow tense between the two. Della's amber eyes searched the girl once more, before kindly creasing up in a warm gaze. Her entire body seemed to be smiling.

"Great. We're a dying breed."

Della smirked at her own words, before flopping back down on the sand.. causing ripples of the soft mineral to whoosh out behind her.

​

 

[Lirael]

When the silence stretched between them, she was convinced that she'd said the wrong thing. What if she wasn't interested? What if she thought that she was just lying? As she smiled, though, Tessa relaxed again, and she inhaled slowly before she lowered her gaze again. "Well.. I can show you around, if you'd like?" she admitted. "Since everyone is going to be here, we could go to the springs? It'll be quieter there anyway."


She got to her feet, brushing the sand out of her long skirt before smiling down at Della, holding out her hand. "What do you say?"


Truth be told, there was a part of her that was scared this girl was going to say no. Tessa was really putting herself out by doing this. She wasn't the kind to just go around and flaunt herself at people this way. She added a smile again, the wind catching her hair and blowing it in her face again.

 

[Kyna]

"Mmm.."

Della mumbled with her eyes closed as she felt Tessa stand up. The edges of her skirt tickled Della's bare legs, causing her to giggle lightly and flip over with her face to the ground. She wasn't sure about leaving Ashley here. Considering she was staying at the Love's house, and Ashley was her ride, it felt a little rude to abandon her. The thought of leaving the crowded social setting, though, was enough to put Della on her feet. She brushed the sand off of her shorts, straightened her jacket, and took Tessa's hand once more. A little surge of energy rushed up her arm as the two touched.

"If they're open, I'd love to go. If they're not, I'd love to sneak in."

Della smiled, once more looking back behind her to Ashley, who was searching the crowd, before glancing back down at Tessa.
​

 

[Lirael]

Tessa was going to really need to calm down before long. She kept finding herself worrying that it was too much, that she was making too many mistakes, but it seemed Della didn't mind, or at least, she didn't think of them as mistakes. She watched as Della got to her feet and took her hand. Tessa held back the shiver at the very last minute as their hands touched, but she smiled, inhaling slowly. "They're still open," she admitted. "But I don't think anyone will be there."


She paused, glancingback at her friend before she cleared her throat. "You know, the Loves don't live too far from the springs. I can walk you back there when you're ready to go." She gave a shy smile, biting her lip as she led the way back behind the dunes they'd been sitting on and towards the springs, still holding hands.


The springs were completely natural, and had been one of the main reasons while the town had boomed the way it had back in the 1800s. Now, though, it was more of a quaint spot since other cities held such higher standards for their getaways. They were back in the trees a bit, and Tessa smiled, pausing long enough to strip out of the clothes she had over her swimsuit. Without another word, she slipped into the water, giving a soft sigh. The perfect temperature, as always. And just like she'd predicted, they were the only ones there.


She swam a bit to where it was a little more shallow, and she smiled, looking back at Della. "Well? Are you going to come in?"

 

[Kyna]

Della nodded at Tessa's words, somewhat amazed that this had all happened in the past half hour or so. She'd met a pretty girl. A nice one, at that. And she liked said girl. The presence of her was pleasing. Said girl was now leading her to a private place. Della had done more than she had achieved in 3 years with Wren in half an hour. Her thoughts slipped away as the two girls receded into the resedential neighborhood, where quaint little houses with picket fences and herb gardens smiled at the two in the twilight. She smiled warmly, imagining living in one of those houses. Adella had always dreamed of living a simple life.

Before she knew it, the two were at the springs. The area was breathtaking. With willowy trees, clear and steamy water, and not another soul in sight, it was perfect for exactly what Della had imagined on her trip to Briarose. She took a step back as Tessa jumped in, giving her a little space between the two as she proceeded to undress. After a few seconds, her henna tattoos that spread all across her shoulder blades had been revealed, but not for long.. Della jumped in as quickly as she had undressed.

"Oh, my god. This is so.. nice.."
​

 

[Lirael]

Tessa was definitely doing her best not to be obvious about staring at the girl. To be honest, though, she was... God above, she was incredibly beautiful. inhaling slowly, she found herself blushing furiously, even as she swam back a bit in a lazy circle before facing her again. "I love coming here," she admitted with a laugh. "It's so peaceful and quiet." Perfect for her because she was more of a loner herself. She didn't like big crowds.


As she saw Della swimming, her hair still bright, she felt that little flutter in the pit of her stomach again. Smiling a bit, she cleared her throat. "So, what do you do back in Beverly Hills?" she asked, trying to be a little more relaxed and not so tense.


((Short post is short.. Sorry ))

 

[Kyna]

Della gave a big sigh, floating up on the surface of the water lazily. She hesitated for a while before answering Tessa's question, as her head was flooded with too many thoughts. Where would things go from now? What exactly was happening? The tension was tugging at her like taffy being pulled. Della kept her facade well though, as her smile never faltered and she never skipped a beat. Classic Della.

"I just graduated. For now, I work at a salon with my girlfr-.. ex-girlfriend. It's fun. Expresses my creativity in a good way. Except for the ex part. That won't be that fun as summer ends. Whatever. I'll handle it. I'm trying to save up for college. I want to go. How about yourself?"

Della rambled on, before disappearing under the water's surface again.


(Same >.<)
​

 

[Lirael]

Tessa watched as she disappeared under the water. It gave her a few moments to think about her response. What else would she actually be willing to tell her? Coming from where she did, she could imagine that she would be horrified to find out exactly how she lived her own life. Biting her lip, she waited for Della to surface again, and she cleared her throat. "Oh.. you know.. not much. School, AP classes.. I am in a book club that meets on Wednesdays, but.. well, it's my mother's book club so they don't exactly have the best idea what a good book is..."


She trailed off before she grimaced, swallowing hard. "That sounded.. really snobby," she admitted with a nervous smile before she looked back at her. "I'm sorry. I, um.. I'm not really good around other people. I tend ot just... stick by myself. I'm pretty awkward."