Previously: Molly sat on Hardin’s lap.
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Marines: Tessa follows Zed to the kitchen, psyching herself up so that she can endure the party, which she should just probably walk out of. Tessa would really like to curse Hardin out (fair) and rip Molly’s hair out (focus on Hardin), but she figures Hardin would just smirk at her the whole time. So instead, she’s going to drink!
“But Mari,” I hear you saying as you read this. “Didn’t you already recap the chapter where Tessa makes bad drinking decisions while angry at Hardin at a party?”
Well, dear reader. I thought I had! I thought we’d been down this road already and yet, here we are. Chapter 59. 317 pages in.
Samantha: The only thing would make this repetition marginally bearable is if she also sloshed a drink all over Hardin, slapped him, and then became bffs with Molly.
Mari: Dream a little dream.
Tessa downs two cherry vodka sours and when she asks for a third, Zed tells her to slow the eff down. He makes her a third, though. Just in time for Truth or Dare!
“But Mari,” you start. “Didn’t we already pla-”
Tessa is so annoyed by their immature, truth or dare ways, because if there is something Tessa is, it’s definitely worldly and mature. She casually asks what happened during the round of Truth or Dare she missed, trying to get info on Hardin and Molly, but Zed vagues that it was just drunk people kissing.
Samantha: This is making me realize how lied to by media I was about how often people played Truth or Dare post middle school. At least in my life.
Mari: Tessa sits near Zed, because using people to make a point seems like a good idea to super mature Tessa. She leans in closer to Zed, and the notes that Molly is on Hardin’s lap “like the whore she is.” Baby girl, is that you cuddling up to Zed and calling Molly a whore in the same breath? JUST CHECKING. (S: STOP IT TESSA. FOCUS ON HARDIN, THE ACTUAL PROBLEM.)
Nate gets a truth so Steph asks him if he pissed in some guy’s closet. Everyone laughs and laughs. It’s Tessa’s turn next. Molly dares her to kiss Zed. Hardin tells Molly, through his teeth, to pick something else because they already know how she feels about kissing people. Tessa says it’s actually fine. Zed makes sure she’s okay with this, which wow. The very low bar, Zed? You cleared it. (S: My mouth for real gaped open and I became sorta Team Zed?) They start kissing and Tessa is into his “soft, yet hard” lips against her own. Not as into it as she is with Hardin, to be clear, but enough that they are both enthusiastically using tongue and lightly groping each other.
Hardin interrupts to say that Molly dared them to kiss, “not fuck in front of everyone.” Tessa looks at him. He’s VERY ANGRY and she’s kind of embarrassed. She dares Tristan to take a shot and then Tristan dares Zed to go upstairs for 10 minutes with Tessa. Zed looks to Tessa to see if she’s okay with this, and she stands to grab his hand. Hardin again speaks up about how “dumb” this is. Molly asks what he cares if they are both single and having fun. Hardin says he doesn’t care, which makes Tessa very sad. She tells him that it’s a good thing it’s none of his business and all these college kids go “burn!” and “damn!” Like, okay. If you say so. (S: Lol, right?)
Zed and Tessa go into a room, and she gets nervous. She asks what he wants to do, and he suggests they just talk. He clarifies that he is attracted to her, but she’s drunk and he doesn’t want to take advantage of her. Tessa gasps (NO ONE GASPS THIS MUCH) and Zed is like, “yeah, I’m not a jerk like Hardin.” Which is AWESOME 1- because this is one other seemingly okay guy Tessa will not end up with and 2- it confirms that ANNA TODD KNOWS. SHE KNOWS HARDIN IS A JERK. SHE KNOWS WHAT CONSENT LOOKS LIKE.
SO, YOU KNOW.
Samantha: Okay so I know I jokingly said I was Team Zed but honestly? This deeply sucks because he’s being painted as the wrong choice because he doesn’t, like, make her scared and anxious? THAT’S NOT THE GOOD KIND OF FAST HEARTBEATS, ANNA TODD. And he’s being a pretty decent guy and seems to genuinely like her for some reason and Tessa stop using him and start genuinely trying to get to know him! But she won’t! This is torture!
Mari: If later, all is revealed and Zed is a dick, I will be 0% surprised. Also, don’t fucking spoil us in the comments. There are only like 3 plots in this damn book, anyway.
Zed casually asks if she’s still seeing Noah, and then asks if he can take her out on a proper date. Tessa hesitates so he suggests asking her again the next day, when she’s sober.
Downstairs, Tessa and Zed walk back into the room holding hands. When Hardin looks at her, she jerks her hand away from Zed, but then quickly grabs it again. Weirdo.
Next, Hardin asks Molly truth or dare. She picks dare and he dares her to kiss him. Tessa has a big dramatic, heart stopping meltdown, with her ears swimming (?) and her heart pounding. She goes from mad to sad and runs out of the party, bumping into people like a MESS along the way. She gets a few steps outside, only to find that Hardin has followed her.
RUN, GIRL. RUN.
Samantha: I have no funny, only I HATE HIM SO MUCH.
Next time on After: A big fight and a manipulative way to get out of it in Chapter 60.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
I'm a 28 year old graduated English major and almost librarian. I can often be found singing too loudly (poorly) in the car or spending some time (hours) on Tumblr. I am a lover of Harry Potter, the Spice Girls, and too many other things.
