Leave What Was Found

4: Truth & Lies

Avery and Julian were escorted to Uncle Mark's office where he agreed to hear them out. He did not seem mad or surprised though, almost as if he had expected his long-lost niece to be breaking the rules on her first day. He was eerily calm, and it made Avery even more anxious. She hadn't always been such a troublemaker. Her newfound bitterness and pain of losing her father had caused that. She had always followed the rules before her father's decision to begin a road trip all over America. Living on the road for so long had given her a sense of freedom that she had fallen in love with. Coming to Hartfield had stripped her of that privilege and now she was facing the consequences of having broken the rules.

Julian had yet to speak, but he too was surprisingly calm. Maybe he was not much of a rule follower either. He just kept this stupid smirk on his face, and it made Avery want to punch him. She felt like it had to do with the package in her pocket. If he planned on telling her uncle, her uncle would for sure call her social worker who would for sure use this to find a way to send her to jail. Hopefully, he wouldn't snitch, he never was the type, even now.

They arrived in his office and Avery sat down in the same chair she had been handcuffed to only yesterday. As Julian sat beside her with a bored yet stoic look on his face, Avery wondered if he was getting nervous now. If he was trying to play off his nerves, he was not doing so well. He was staring at her uncle. As if waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the man to yell at them.

"Would either of you care to explain why you were both absent from class today?" he asked.

His tone was careful, calculated. He was waiting for a reason to get mad. Avery appreciated that. She also felt bad about how she planned on exploiting his non-judgmental tone. Julian glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. As if he was telling her to take the lead. Avery hated how good of a liar she was. Her father would be so disappointed in her.

"I miss my dad," she mumbled.

Avery then did the trick she learned and shut her eyes three times hard and fast, then the tears fell like she knew they would.

"I did not feel like going to class, I knew I was just going to cry, so he offered to distract me," Avery said, jutting her lip out just a bit to give the full effect.

Avery peeked up at Uncle Mark who looked sympathetic. He nodded and pushed the tissue box on his desk closer to her. Avery took a tissue and wiped her fake tears away. She glanced over at Julian who looked completely surprised by her performance.

"Well, okay then, thank you for taking care of my niece, Julian," Uncle Mark said to him.

Julian only nodded back.

"I can set up a meeting with the school therapist if you want, Avery," he offered.

Uh oh, maybe her performance had been a little too good.

"Maybe later," she said, still keeping up her sorrowful act.

"All right, well why don't you two take the rest of the day off then," he suggested.

Avery nodded and stood up at once, mindful of the package in her hoodie pocket, Avery moved carefully trying not to let its contents be heard. Julian followed her out and they walked back to the dorms side by side.

"How did you learn how to cry on demand?" he asked.

"I watched someone do it in Oregon for a free pizza once," she said with a shrug. "Was it really that believable?"

"Oscar-worthy," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Damn, maybe I should have toned it down. The last thing I need is my uncle on my back," she muttered.