Tennessee

Ben Sydney
Thoughts plagued me like a cancer as I walked down the street. Where was she? Where was she sleeping? Was she with him? How could I go on if she decided to be with him?

Tennessee was an incredibly stubborn person and if she made a decision, she would stick to it, regardless if she was completely sure on her choice. Something about the night made me nervous. She was probably sleeping with hi-

"Watch where you're going, will you?" A familiar voice huffed. I had crashed into someone's shoulder.

I looked up. It was the answer to my miracles, and it seemed so familiar. My eyes raised to find Tenny brushing dirt off her red strapless dress. She looked like she was going somewhere. Her usual mess of auburn hair was in neat pin curls and her makeup was dark, exhibiting her hazel eyes.

"Tenny," I said, lifting her up and giving her a spin.

"Ben?! Put. Me. Down!" she spluttered.

She was stressed, she used the voice.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when I had set her down.

I realized I was outside her apartment, my old apartment. I had led myself there.

"Uh. I don't really know," I said, scratching my head.

"Well, I've got to go," she said, "My fashion show starts in an hour."

"Your show? That's tonight?"

"Yes, Ben. Didn't you get your invite?" she asked, already peering over my shoulder in distraction.

I realized she was lugging a duffel bag behind her and I moved to reach for it.

"Here, I'll help you now," I said.

"Thank you," she murmured and grinned.

We walked down the street quietly and the starry night echoed with music and voices.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Tenny suddenly said with a coy smile.

"What?" I questioned.

"The day we met. Didn't you crash into me that day, too?" she asked, laughing.

"Uh, yeah, about that," I said, scratching my head.

Tenny looked at me, her honey eyes questioning.

"I did that on purpose. Remember how I told you I had been watching you for a couple
weeks? Well, that was cleverly premeditated by yours truly."

Tennessee gawked at me for long second, before whispering, "You're such a creeper, Ben!"

"But today, now that was an accident," I said, lugging the duffel bag down the subway steps.

"So you say," Tenny teased.

I looked at her. Her beautiful, reddish hair gleamed in the setting up from up above and her eyes sparkled. I loved her.

"But it worked, didn't it? You went out with me that night," I said quietly as we waited on the platform for the arriving train.

"Yes," Tenny said, just as softly as I had, "I guess it did."



"Congratulations!"

The champagne was flowing endlessly and all of the guests and attendees of the fashion show continued to praise me in the dim glow of the warehouse. I felt fuzzy and great as if none of my fourteen garments had walked down the runway. It seemed to be a dream, a beautiful dream. Everyone had been there. Lydia, Richie, Paul and Mary sat in the front, completely pretending they were enraptured, even though I knew they had seen my clothes a million times. Something about the night made me feel invincible. What I had done, no one could erase. It stood forever.

And the last walk, when I came out, I saw Ben. He had stood up and was clapping harder and louder than anyone. I caught a glimpse of Luz's midnight hair near him and I felt like I would cry. The after-party went underway immediately in the venue and I wore one of my own creations: an emerald mini dress with my same old ankle boots.

After smiling a million times and saying "thank you" more times than I could count, I retreated to the back to fix my makeup. I was reapplying crimson lipstick when I saw Ben slipping behind the curtains and coming towards me.

He grinned at me and said, "Wow. That was amazing, Tennessee."

"You think so?" I asked, beaming and turning around to look at him properly.

"Yeah, it was great," Ben said and opened his arms to hug me.

I jumped up and wrapped my arms around him. Everything about him comforted me. From his raspy voice, to his colorful tattoos, even his pencil dust scent. It seemed to lift my mood an unbelievable amount, just to be there standing with him.

"What the hell is this?"

I jerked away and looked around for the owner of the voice I knew so well.

"Paul."

"Yes, Paul. Paul, your boyfriend," Paul said, stepping forward.

Ben had turned around and moved in front of me. I rolled my eyes.

"Why don't we go back to the party?" I asked Paul and grabbed his hand.

"No," Paul pulled away from me, "I want to know what's going on."

He looked between Ben and I. And his eyes landed on Ben, who glared so viciously, I couldn't recognize him.

"Look," I said, sensing the real danger there now, "it's nothing, nothing."

"Why don't you leave, Ben? Isn't that second nature to you? I don't think you'll ruin Tennessee that much," Paul hissed.

"Paul, stop," I seethed under my breath.

Ben shook his head and looked at Paul in an almost patronizing way.

"Paul, why don't you just go and make us all a cup of tea? It'll calm our nerves."

Apparently, that was too much for Paul to take, so he lunged at Ben. And Ben seemed to have expected it, because he punched Paul in the stomach before he could reach him. Paul reeled back and kneeled over.

"Listen, I'm sor-" Ben started but was cut off by a punch in the face. Paul had tried to redeem himself.

I watched this wordlessly. My lips formed an 'O' until I realized what was going on.

"Stop, stop now!" I shrieked because Ben and Paul seemed ready for another go. Ben's left eye was already red and swollen.

Paul looked at me as if he barely noticed my presence.

"Who do you want, Tenn?" he asked, venom leaking through his calm stance.

"Who. The. Fuck. Do you want?" he said.

I looked at him for a long moment.

"I'm sorry, Paul. Not you."

The words left my lips before I could even think about it. My heart had won the battle because my head wouldn't have said it like that.

Paul looked like he had been slapped and I moved forwards to comfort him but he jerked away.

"Fuck you," he said and left without another word.

Ben and I were left in the backstage room once again. And it looked like Ben was utterly taken aback.

"Did that really just happen?" he asked aloud.

I stared at the floor, spacing out on what I'd done.

"Yeah, yeah it did."

And without a second to spare, he stepped forward and pressed his lips against mine. And soon, my problems seemed to float away.