As everyone has probably guessed by now, Tess and I have had some difficulty coming up with inspiration for our 2 Year Blogoversary celebration. Hence, the total lack of interesting posts, even though we're celebrating a pretty amazing milestone.
It all started last weekend. Rachel and I were hanging out in our temporary room (which would explain why I was living in a room with Tangled and *shudder* Jane Austen posters). We were in the middle of a very interesting conversation about something regarding the Avengers (surprise, surprise) when Tess walked in.
"Um, sorry to bother you guys," she began, looking embarrassed, "but, Maggie...could I talk to you for a minute? It's about our Blogoversary."
"Sure," I said casually. It cracked me up how Tess was always so timid coming into a room, like she had to apologize for existing.
Rachel got up from her seat. "I think I'll go see how Jenna's doing," she said kindly. "That way, you two can talk without being disturbed."
Tess smiled her thanks as Rachel left the room.
I patted the place next to me on the bed. "Climb on up," I offered. "I'm too comfortable to move."
My friend quietly took a seat. "I've been thinking a lot about our Blogoversary and what we should do to celebrate it," she began.
"Please say you're not thinking of a blog party," I quickly interrupted. "I just don't think we can pull that off this time around."
Tess looked disappointed. "Oh, uh...no. No, that's not what I was thinking." She instantly ran out of things to say.
I realized with a slight twinge of my conscience that I probably had spoken too soon. Tess was a horrible liar, after all. But why didn't she stand up for herself and admit that was her idea? More and more in the past few months, I had realized just how different Tess and I were. I hated trying to figure out what she really meant when she was too afraid to tell me.
I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. Were you thinking about a blog party?"
Tess adjusted her necklace nervously. "I did have an idea for one, but you're probably right...it's not enough notice."
"Did you have any questions or a theme figured out?" I asked, trying to encourage her.
She shook her head. "It's not a big deal. I didn't have many of the details worked out."
And no matter what I tried, I couldn't get any more out of her. Everyone thinks of me as the stubborn one, but Tess can be stubborn too. It's just a different kind of stubbornness. She's so worried about offending someone or getting her feelings hurt that she completely shuts down.
"So, any other ideas?" I asked, determined to let her talk before I interrupted again.
She finished fiddling with her necklace and moved on to her hair. "I'd like to...to do a giveaway of some kind, but I'm not sure what the prize should be."
"That sounds like a good idea," I agreed.
She looked relieved at my comment.
"Tess, I'm not the Big Bad Wolf," I said.
She scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
"You're acting like I'm going to yell at you if I don't like what you say or something," I protested.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I just wasn't sure what you'd think, and..."
"Look, it doesn't matter what I think," I insisted. "I mean, sure, I have my opinions, but it's not like you can't have any ideas of your own."
Tess sat quietly for a minute, as if she was trying to come up with the right thing to say. "I guess I'm just not used to talking to you anymore," she admitted uneasily.
I raised one eyebrow.
"I mean," she continued, "that you and I have kind of gone our separate ways. You're always with Rachel, talking up your action/adventure stuff, and I've ended up spending more time with some of the others. It's been a long time since we've just sat and talked."
I realized that this was true. It wasn't really intentional on my part, and I still considered Tess my "best friend" (although titles like that are so restrictive and exclusive, like you can't be friends with anyone else).
"I'm sorry, Tess. It's nothing personal.." I began.
"Oh, I know!" Tess instantly agreed. "It's just...different. I thought I could always just pick up where I left off with you, but I'm finding it difficult to figure out what to talk about lately. It seems like you're always into the Avengers or something else that I know nothing about."
"Well, now you know how I feel when you and Emma go off on your Jane Austen rants!" I retorted, winking to show I was partially teasing.
Tess laughed at this. "I suppose you're right," she admitted.
"Oh, I'm totally right. I usually am, you know." I grinned, and Tess grinned back.
"I did have one more idea," she admitted hesitantly.
"What's that?" I asked, determined to be supportive, whatever it was.
"A dress-up party," she said, searching my face for approval. I willed myself not to gag.
"A dress-up party?" I repeated, hoping I sounded at least slightly interested.
She nodded. "Mama's been talking about switching our rooms back, so I thought we could use this room before she moves all of Hailey and my furniture in. We've got all of those great fancy dresses in our clothing tub. We could each choose one and dress up, just for fun. Then we could get ideas for the giveaway from everyone."
"Wow, a dress-up party," I said again, trying to think of something else to add.
"I know dressing up isn't your favorite thing," she started apologetically, "but...it could be fun."
I'm going to die...seriously. "Why not?" I agreed a little too cheerfully.
"Really? You don't mind?"
I took a deep breath and told myself I didn't. "No, I don't mind. When were you thinking?"
"How about Thursday?" she suggested. "That would give everyone time to get ready and give Mama a chance to move the furniture around."
I nodded. "Okay, Thursday it is."
Tess gave me a hug and then sprung off of the bed. "I'll go spread the word!"
I slowly climbed down after her. I'm doing this for my friend, I thought. This means a lot to her. No one ever died from wearing a fancy dress. At least...I don't think anyone ever died from wearing a fancy dress. Hmm...maybe I should look into that for next time!
At that moment, Tess turned around to look at me. "Thanks, Maggie," she said with a smile. "It was nice talking."
I was able to genuinely smile back. "I thought so too." And I really did. It was nice to be able to clear the air a bit. Even if it did mean I would be wearing a frilly dress this week.
Click HERE for Part 2!
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