Through the Dark

Chapter 15

Owen, Eleanor and I had added each other on our social medias long before they went home. Avery, who was apparently too cool for herself, did not do so.

Later that night as I was about to go to bed I saw texts from Noah. 

'I did not do anything stupid' texted Noah.
'I suppose that you are safe for now then' I replied. Noah sent the laughing emoji and I turned on the alarm before going to sleep. 

I was beyond doubt that Addison would fill in us with every single detail from the previous night. I was proved right of course. Addison said that she actually enjoyed the time.

"Noah is taking me somewhere this weekend," she finished. All of us were gathered around her in school, while she told us every single detail.
"Where?" I asked.
"That he did not tell," replied Addison.

"Easy tiger, what if he kidnaps you?" Aiden added mockingly.
"Kidnap her while she's on a date?" Thea said amidst her laughter.

"At least keep your location on the whole time so that if you are lost we can find you," Nathan added humorously.
"Even if Noah was to kidnap Addison he's not that stupid that he would not throw her phone away or something," Finn mentioned in a comical way making all of us chortle.

"You know, yesterday I met the Margaret of Fords," I added while I took another bite of the toast.

Margaret was the typical queen bee and karen of our school, Kinsley High. Yesterday, after I met Avery, all I could think of is that they are duplicates of each other according to their behavior.
The thing that I did not understand was how I had to encounter both of them with their defective genes.

"What? Are you serious? I thought there is only one copy of that kind. That one being Margaret," Thea said.
"I thought so too but Avery somehow happens to be just like her," I said.
"Avery? I think I heard that name before," Aiden stated.
"I'm sure there are many others Averys in the world Aiden," I said.

"So how did you come across the Margaret of Fords?" Finn asked.
"She was hanging out with Jason and his friends," I mentioned.
"Jason is friends with Avery who is supposed to be the Margaret of Fords. Woah! that's messed up," Nathan stated. I sort of agreed with him though. Noah, Eleanor and Owen were amiable people. Albeit, I was not a big fan of Jason, he was a good person too an did not mean any harm on purpose. Avery, on the other hand, was nothing like any of them. Eleanor and Owen behaved as if they were bound to have Avery's company even though they were not adoring it. I was almost certain that there some sort of tea involved.

After school I went straight home. It was a long day at school and my nerves were frayed because of the basketball practice that we did. I had decided to take a nap as soon as I reached. Seeing the bed was probably the best thing that had occurred to me that day because I knew that I could have a good amount of sleep.

Surely enough I had dozed off immediately after my head fell on the pillow.

I woke up at dawn to see the sun setting in the distance. With renewed vigor I got up and let a loud yawn. My stomach growled and I changed into sweatpants and a hoodie before going downstairs.

"Hey sleepyhead," it was Eleanor who spoke.
"Hi. Since when are you here?" I asked.
"Been here since a long time," she said.
"We were hanging out here after school. Jason and Owen are out to do some work and I'm stuck here because Owen is my ride home," Eleanor explained as I took out a bowl, the cartoon of milk and cereal.

"Aren't you getting bored sitting here all alone?" I questioned.
"Nuh uh. I have my phone," Eleanor chuckled.

"I've been wanting to thank you because of how you stood up for me yesterday," she added after some time.
"Hey there's no need to thank me. I just stated the truth that's all," I replied.

"Well you should know that you have become quite known inside Fords," she said winking at me.

"Me? How?" I inquired genuinely surprised.

"Come on, Vianna, with the basketball tournament coming and you being one of the best players and the captain of your team, made you to the top list on its own. Some of the boys in our school is already talking about asking you out sooner or later," she said emphasizing each word.

"Actually?" I asked not really believing what she said.

"Oh yeah. Not to mention that you are now living with Jason now. Believe it or not, most of the recent conversations, in our school, are of you and Jason. Jason is quite well known and he never dates anyone. Now, all of a sudden, there's another girl, who is of his age and has a well known reputation too, is living inside his house," Eleanor mentioned which made me chuckle. 

"Someone as hot as you is living with Jason Carter, who has been known for his stoic behavior. Even I was shell shocked when I first heard about all of it. All the others are bound to be shocked too," Eleanor added nonchalantly. 

"But how did everyone else know that I was going to live with Jason?" I asked her. I had only told my friends about it. None of the others from my school even knew about any of it whereas according to Eleanor everyone in their school knew about all of it.

"We have our B.B.C. Avery. She created a fit in school the day she heard about it. It sort of spread like wildfire after that," Eleanor said. I did not miss the eye twitch when she mentioned Avery's name. 

"Does Avery and Jason have something going on?" I questioned.
"No no. Jason loathes Avery just like any normal human would do," Eleanor disclosed. 

"Then why do you guys hang out with her?" I voiced out before thinking through it.

"To be more specific we are forced to hang out with her. You see, I myself joined Fords last year and Avery was always against me for some reason. She is known to have a huge crush on Jason. That and for the popularity of the boys she wants to hang out with them. Owen, Jason and Noah did not like her company but when they began to separate her from their group, Avery made up all rumors and complained about them to the Principal. The boys were given warnings of getting suspended and expelled too because of the rumors that she spread," Eleanor said.

"But why did they not fight against it?" 

"Fighting against Avery would have been useless and would be like calling upon one's own danger because her mother has a lot of power. Our Principal was threatened by her mother that if something happens to Avery she would sue the school if needed," Eleanor remarked.

"Woahhh," I was bewildered by what I had heard.

"I know. It's all messed up," Eleanor sighed.
"But she is so mean," I opined.
"We all know that too but we can't really go against her. As far as I know, you are the first person who stood up against her," she beamed.

I already knew that Avery would cause much inconvenience and be the reason of my vexation. The thing that I needed to know was when and how.

Owen and Jason had arrived shortly afterwards. As the usual ordeal, Owen greeted me while Jason strutted off, completely ignoring me.

Eleanor and Owen left before long and I was back inside my room to spend the rest of the day alone, with myself. That was not exactly a bad thing, considering that I loved me and my own company but at times I would begin to feel lonely. Livia was mostly out of home while Jason was mostly locked up inside the four closed walls of his bedroom. My friends were my only way out, except the time I was with myself in my mind palace of course.

The mundane hours continued as I did a little bit of studying and probably scrolled miles through my phone. Nevertheless, I was contended that the situation in which I was in was better than what I had imagined it to be.