Immature Mistakes | mj.q✓

Twenty-Four

Ava read the message that was on the note and a small smile appeared on her face. Even though it didn't completely make her happy, made her emotional in fact, it was still good assurance that she wasn't going to get in trouble.

'So is Jiaqi your boyfriend?' the girl who had handed her the note asked her curiously.

'Jiaqi?' Ava slightly chuckled. 'No he's my friend...I mean...was my friend.'

'I never thought I'd see you having a friend.' the girl commented then returned to her seat.

'Yeah I never thought so too,' Ava spoke to herself. 'But it seems that I wasn't meant to have one. Because I lost my first friend because of my poor actions.'

After classes, Ava was once again faced with walking home alone. She started to get used to Jiaqi's company and enjoyed it, so him leaving almost made her feel a little bit emptier than she thought she would.

Once she had left the school building, she noticed a familiar face standing next to his bike. He was pulling it up from the wall he had propped it on, and he looked at her as well.

The two of them looked at each other momentarily, Jiaqi hesitating whether he should talk to her or not. Evelyn had said that Ava needed space, he didn't want to seem pushy.

Ava put her hands on the straps of her backpack, before looking away from Jiaqi and continuing to head down the road they once started to walk on together.

Jiaqi decided to wait for a little while before he rode his bike home, he didn't want to bump into her again and make the journey awkward.

'Hey Chengxin!' Jiaqi waved in the air once he had noticed Chengxin leaving the school building. 'Can we talk for a minute!?'

Chengxin noticed him below him, so he descended the stairs and walked over to him. 'What is it?' Chengxin asked him the moment he had arrived, clearly impatient to get home.

'So Yaowen's party this Friday? Can I come with you?' Jiaqi asked him.

'What!?' Chengxin laughed in disbelief. 'Why would you want to attend Yaowen's party? The guy hates you like hell. Besides, Janine is going to be there so I don't think he's comfortable having you around.'

'I know, but I really need to talk to Janine...'

'You sound like a stalker dude.'

'I know. But this is really important. It's a game changer. Trust me dude.'

Chengxin sighed. 'Fine. But if Yaowen sees you at his party, he's going to kick you out. So if I were you I'd disguise my looks a little bit. And oh...if he catches you, don't tell him that you came with me.'

'Fine.' Jiaqi nodded. 'Thanks Chengxin, I owe you a lot.'

'You owe me the world dude.' Chengxin slapped his shoulder then started to walk away. 'I really need to hurry home dude. See you later.'

'Sure thing.'

...

At home that evening, Ava was lying in bed earlier than she was supposed to. She was feeling a dangerous rush of emotions which she never felt like she had felt before. It all started when Jiaqi's note fell out of her backpack when she was looking for a specific book from her bag.

She realized getting close to someone who made her feel a certain way she had never really felt before was dangerous. When the connection to him was cut, she almost felt a bit emptier than she was before she had known him. For the first time, Ava was soaking her pillow with her tears which she didn't want anyone to see.

The door opened forcefully. 'Hey get up and go cook supper, I cooked yesterday.' Evelyn announced with her hand on her waist.

Ava kept facing the wall and did not reply, not wanting anyone to see her tears and not wanting to get up and cook.

'Hey can't you hear me?' Evelyn continued.

'I don't feel like it.' She answered blankly.

'You don't feel like it!?' Evelyn snapped. 'Then who do you think is going to cook supper!? Dad's already in the house and he's impatient, what the hell do you want me to tell him!?'

'That I don't want to cook supper.' she repeated.

'Oh really? Fine.' Evelyn slammed the door and rushed downstairs. 'Dad! Ava doesn't want to cook supper!' she announced, her voice fading with the distance.

A while later, Ava could hear the heavy footsteps which belonged to her father approaching their bedroom door. She knew she was in trouble, but she couldn't bring herself to get out of the bed.

'Ava!' Michael barged in the door and held the handle, standing in the doorway. 'Don't make me walk to your bed. Get out of your bed and go cook.'

'I can't.' she replied.

'What do you mean you can't? Then who's going to do the cooking when your sister already did it yesterday?'

'I don't know.'

Michael took a deep breath. 'Don't make me put my hands on you...'

'I don't care!' she exploded, turning around in bed and facing him with her tear-streaked face. She sat up then planted herself down at the left edge of her bed, facing him. 'I don't care what you do to me today dad! I'm tired of everything but I'm more especially tired of how you treat me! Why do you treat me like us like this!?' she then remembered Jiaqi's words about her father some time back. 'What's your story as to why you treat your children like this?'

Evelyn who was outside the door was shocked by Ava's words, and she felt like Ava was going to get the punishment of her life. It somehow excited her as she tried to poke her head inside.

'What do you mean what's my story?' Michael asked her defensively, then surprisingly shut the door calmly. 'You got your heartbroken didn't you?' he asked her in a tone he barely used.

'And you care!?' Ava wiped her tears once more.

'Of course I don't, but I do know when someone's heart has been broken. Probably one of the worst feelings in the world. You had a boyfriend?' he folded his arms and leaned on the door.

She shook her head. 'Of course not. He was my friend, my first friend in a long while, and I let him down. So he left.'

'Ava,' he tatted. 'Never expect people to stay. People will always leave you. They won't care about all the good things you've ever done for them, your time will all be in vain, they won't remember you as much as you remember them.' he told her. 'But it's fine, I know how it feels when you're young and you thought the person won't disappear. Just be wiser.'

Ava was surprised that for the first time he hadn't used harsh words. Instead, he advised her.

'So, since I understand you, you're off the hook for tonight. Evelyn will do the cooking.' Michael grabbed the door and opened it.

'No!' an eavesdropping Evelyn who was outside the door cried. 'But dad I already did it yesterday! It's not fair!'

'Are you denying what I'm telling you...?'

'No dad.' Evelyn immediately answered.

Michael walked out the door and shut it, leaving with Evelyn down the stairs.

Ava dropped herself on her bed again, relieved and surprised that Michael had understood something for the first time. It was strange of him to even talk to his daughters like that, in fact he hadn't done it in a long while.

Then she realized that perhaps he may have gone through a painful breakup before and it was the only thing that he sympathized with. Was it perhaps the reason he treated this children like that? Was that his story?

Perhaps the girl in the photo had broken his heart.