Tessa's POV

"THERESA TOMLINSON! You forgot to turn the pool lights off!" My dad yelled at me right as I woke up. "Now I have to drain the entire pool and change the lights? Do you realize how time consuming that is?!" Oh man, I forgot. How could I forget?

I was so distracted by Niall's audacity that I just forgot. "Dad, we've been over this. My name is Tessa White, not that name you said." My dad's face went red with rage at my reply. He yelled something in French that I couldn't understand and left my room. I decided to just leave that to him and got ready.

I was in my regular clothes for summer: shorts, tank top, and converse, since I'll be walking to town. I usually pack a pair of flip flops in my bag; just in case I need them. Then I went down to breakfast.

"Good morning, Tessa," My mom greeted me as soon as I walked into the kitchen.

"Such a good one." I told her, sarcastically. She gave me a look. I sighed, "Fine. Good morning mom." My mom has this thing about us always saying good morning and good night to each other. She says it makes people wake up and go to bed feeling better than they were.

The boys came down rather loudly as I was getting served my pancakes. "BOYS! BOYS!" My mom shouted to get their attention.

"What?!" They shouted back in unison.

"Good morning." Her rueful smile broke through, which caused them to smile as well. My mother's smile could break through a rainy day.

"Good morning, mom." They replied.

"Don't forget about your sister."

"FIne. Good morning, Tessa." Louis, my favourite, said. Jesse just sat down across from me, not saying a word.

"Jesse," my mother said in a warning tone.

He huffed. "Good morning Tessa."

"Good morning to you too, Jesse and Louis." First point of the day goes to me.

While I ate my pancakes my mother asked what I was planning to do today. "Well, I'm going into the town to apply for a job, and then I'll probably be hanging out with Cara and the rest of the group."

"What jobs are you applying for?" She asked me. She looked genuinely interested.

"I'm probably going to apply as a busboy. Or busgirl, whatever you call it. Sort of like a waitress. I'll probably go down to Denarii's. They're usually busy over the summer and need extra help." I told her.

She looked okay with my explanation. "One more thing. Before you go into town, will you take my pie over to our new neighbours? I baked it this morning, but I didn't have time to take it over." I nodded my head and looked calm, but I was freaking out a little bit on the inside. I would probably have to see Niall again. Maybe not. I might see his brother instead.

My mother then turned her investagative questions on my triplets. While my brothers were being attacked by mom, I finished my food and grabbed the pie to take over to Niall's. I called goodbye to my mother and headed out the door.

The town is a twenty-minute walk away, so I decided against taking my bike. First, I went over to our new neighbour's to deliver the pie and my mother's message of warm welcome. I rang the doorbell and patiently waited for someone to answer. There was a car parked in the driveway, so someone was bound to be home.

After a few moments a lady opened the door. She was beautiful. This could be none other than Niall's mother. She had his and Greg's crystal blue eyes. She was startled to find me holding a pie and quickly ushered me in, taking the pie out of my hands.

"Hi, I'm Tessa. Your neighbour." I started out.

"Hello dear. My name is Maura Gallagher. I didn't know we would be having guests or I would have cleaned up a bit." I could tell she had a slight Irish accent as well.

"Oh no, ma'am. It's quite alright. I never announced I was coming."

"Still, I could make a cup of tea, if you'd like." She said.

I reassured her it was quite alright. "I was just on my way into town when my mother baked this pie for you." I conversed with Mrs. Gallagher.

"Oh, really?" She asked. "My son, Niall, was about to head into town as well. He was hoping to apply for a summer job. You wouldn't mind showing him how to get there, would you? It's no problem if not." Her blue eyes looked so hopeful. I nodded my head. Then someone came rushing down the stairs.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. The thing is, Niall was only in boxers. No shirt, no pants, not even socks. He didn't even seem to notice me as he came into the kitchen and started pouring himself some cereal. His mom and I looked at each other with the same exasperated look on our faces. She put a finger to her lips, silently telling me to wait until he noticed. I really liked Niall's mother. When he sat down at the kitchen island to eat his cereal, he finally looked up to see his mother and I silently staring at him with smiles on our faces. He was taken aback. It's not everyday you walk around in just your boxers in front of your mother and a girl you hardly know. Niall was speechless and quickly tried to cover himself with his hands. He turned pink which quickly led to bright red. In the end, he just rushed back upstairs.

Maura and I both burst into laughter. Both of our faces were tinted pink from lack of air because we were laughing for a good while. When we finally stopped my throat hurt so I drank some more tea. I don't know why, but Mrs. Gallagher makes really good tea. It must be some Irish secret or something.

Niall came back down, actually in clothes this time. He was still a little pink, and when he saw me still sitting there, it deepened. He was about to go back to eating his cereal, but it had gotten soggy and gross. "Our lovely neighbour, Tessa, brought over a pie if you'd like that for breakfast instead. There's also some tea in the kettle, if you'd like." Mrs. Gallagher told him when he looked around for something other than soggy cereal to eat. He gave his mother a smile and then cut a big piece of pie and poured a cup of tea. He sat down across from his mother and I, and he started inhaling his food. He barely had any time to breathe.

"Niall!" His mother corrected him. "You act as if I don't feed you."

"You don't feed me stuff this good." He retorted, still chowing down. He didn't even close his mouth while he chewed. It was like watching a wild animal tear something apart with its teeth. All in all, it was disgusting.

"After you finish breakfast, Tessa here will be taking you into town to look for friends and look for a job." His mother told him. He choked a little on his food at that particular comment. This made me feel a little embarrassed. Was there something wrong with me? Something that would make Niall choke on his food at the thought of spending any sort of time with me? Whatever, I'm showing him how to get to the town, not marrying him. He doesn't have to like me. Who cares? I mean, I only just met the guy.

By the time he finished his food, his mother was pushing us out the door together. Literally, pushing. When we were out on the road walking towards the town, Niall's mother started blowing kisses at him. He waved her off, but his cheeks burned again. He did that a lot. I just laughed. Once we left the neighbourhood we walked in silence. Great, a twenty-minute, awkward, silent walk.

"Tessa, I just wanted to say sorry about my mom." Why is he apologizing for his mother? "She was way out of line with her jokes and everything. I'm sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable." More like he's sorry for her making him feel uncomfortable.

"Niall, why are you apologizing for your mother? She's great."

Niall looked at me with a bizarred expression. "You think she's great?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, what's the big deal? Never had a girl say that about your mom before?"

"More like I've never let a girl meet my mom before. 'Specially before I wake up." He scoffed. That's shocking. He seemed like the kind of guy to have a bunch of girlfriends.

"No offense, but why? You just seem like the kind of guy to have lots of girls just hanging on your every word."

"I never said I didn't get a bunch of girls. I said my mom has never met any of them."