Finding Avery

Chapter 10

One month later (May 2021)

Avery POV

"Happy birthday, Charlie!" Everyone yells.

I smile as I watch Charlie dig into her cake.

"Hey."

I turn and see Jeri, "H-hi."

"You good?"

I nod, "Uh-uh, yeah."

"Alright, just you look tired, so if you want, you can tap out."

I shake my head, "N-no."

"Okay. You want some cake?"

"Sure." I say.

I'm pretty over everyone hovering over me. I'm close to walking again, but Charlie beat me to that milestone.

"Here, you want help?" Jeri says.

I shake my head.

"Okay, I'll be back."

I nod and stare at the fork.

"You gonna pick that up?" I look over and see a girl around my age.

"Uh, I-I..." I sigh and nod.

"Wh-what's your n-name?" I ask her.

She smiles, "I'm Tate. And you're Avery."

My eyes widen, "H-how-"

"Your sister is friends with my mom. She said we're the same age so she sent me over here."

I nod and turn to see Alex pretend like she wasn't watching me.

"What happened to you?"

I stare at her, "Uh, um, a-a-accident."

"Oh. Car accident?" She asks.

I look down and nod, "Y-yeah."

"Was everyone okay?" She asks.

I know she's asking innocent questions, but I feel my anxiety rise and try to quickly escape the situation.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"Y-y-yeah."

I try to stand up and quickly feel my leg buckle and I collapse.

"F-fuck." I gasp.

"Aves!" I hear Alex call out.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to just disappear.

"Hey, you're okay. You just tried to move too quickly." She says.

"Duh-done, I-inside."

She pulls me up and let's me lean on her while grabbing my walker.

"Alright, come on. Let's go make sure you didn't hurt yourself."

I open my eyes long enough to see Tate staring at me with pity in her eyes. I shake my head and let Alex help me inside.

She sets me on the couch.

"N-no. Muh-yyy ruh-room. A-alone."

"Why do you want to be alone? What happened?"

"D-don't w-want to t-talk." I say.

"Then you're not going to your room. You can be alone out here." She gets up and walks away.

I groan, "A-Alex!"

She just keeps walking and I close my eyes.

"Let me look at your leg."

I open my eyes and see Elizabeth.