Page 115 of Score
“I’m not sure,” Tessa answers vaguely.
“Oh my God, Tess!” Mel erupts. “You were unprepared and behaving erratically on set. You even missed a few tapings and we both know why.”
“Wait, what?” I bounce a confused glance between my two best friends. “Erratic how? And you’re always so prompt and prepared.”
“When she’s on her meds, she’s prompt and prepared,” Mel inserts. “But she isn’t, are you, Tess?”
“Mind your own damn business, Mel!” Tessa shouts. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“I saw your prescription bottles in the medicine cabinet,” Mel fires back. “The bottles were full.”
“Not all of them!” Tessa says. “Look, some of those meds suck the life out of me. Verity, you get it. How am I supposed to act when I can’tfeel? I didn’t even want to have sex for so long. Me! Youknowhow much I love dick.”
“It’s, like, in your top three fave things,” I half joke, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere on the video call.
“And it ain’t two or three,” Tessa replies, silently thanking me with her eyes. We’re usually near telepathic, and yet I didn’t know.
“Being on those meds is like looking at the world through a veil,” Tessa continues. “I just want to lift that for a bit. If you can’t enjoy your life, why even live it?”
Worry and panic rise to the surface, but I try to school my features so Tessa doesn’t detect it.
“Of all people,” Tessa says, tears in her eyes, “you understand, Ver. I know you do.”
“Of course, honey,” I reply gently. “You know when we were trying to find the right balance for me, I was miserable, but you can’t just stop cold turkey. That’s really dangerous.”
Tessa’s eyes narrow and her lips thin. “I gotta go or I’ll be late for an audition.”
She disconnects, leaving me on the call with only Mel.
“Jesus,” I whisper, and blink away tears. “This is bad.”
“Yeah.” Mel blows out a breath and lifts her eyes to the ceiling. “And we both know from experience, if she doesn’t get back on her meds, it’s only gonna get worse.”
“I’ll come for Christmas. I need to see her. And we did say we’d go somewhere. Let’s plan it.”
“I won’t be here,” Mel says, and her lips twitch against a smile.
“Wait.” I wave a finger at my own mouth. “What’s going on in this area? Anything you need to share with the class?”
“I met someone.” Mel lets the grin out. “He’s amazing. His name’s Clint. He’s over in HR at my cousin’s firm, and we met at her company picnic. I was tagging along and BAM!”
“How long have you been seeing him?”
She looks a little sheepish and one-shoulder shrugs. “A few weeks.”
“And this is the first I’m hearing about him?”
We’ve always been oversharers when it comes to our love lives, telling each other every detail as soon as thereisa detail.
Mel sighs and shakes her head. “Tessa and I haven’t been good. This turn she’s taken has affected not just her work, but some of her friendships.Ourfriendship. I’ve been spending more and more time at Clint’s.”
It’s only then that I notice her background is unfamiliar, not any room I recognize from their apartment.
“So Tessa’s basically living alone right now?” I ask cautiously. “When she’s not taking her meds regularly?”
“Not alone. I haven’t abandoned her,” Mel rushes to explain, a defensivenote in her voice. “We still live together, but I needed some space. It’s a lot. She’s a lot right now.”
She’s a lot.
