system of a down | jonathan daviss

vii. meet & eat.

chapter seven . . . meet & eat.
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real life!

AVALON JETT let out a shaky sigh of social exhaustion, an overwhelming sense of vanquish had nestled uncomfortably in the middle of her throat. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

She loved meeting new people, especially her new cast mates. Everyone was extremely kind and she was very comfortable around them. She felt like she could be herself with out a fear of judgment or satirical humor. But it was all just too much. Too many people. Too many voices. The words and sentences began to stack one over another, drowning out each syllable with incomprehensible sentences were shouted through the air. It was all just too much.

So, Avalon did the easiest, smartest thing she could think of. She hid in the bathroom. She was sat upon the toilet, scrolling through TikTok mindlessly and playing random games she didn't even realize she had downloaded. She planned on returning to the group in a few minutes, hopefully when everything will settle. There was a big buffet-style lunch starting up which she couldn't afford to miss.

"Is anyone in here?" She heard a disembodied voice from the opposite side of the thick, wooden door, followed by three timid knocks.

"One second!" Avalon called back to the person. She gathered her bag, phone, and water bottle before checking her appearance one last time in the expertly polished mirror above the sink. Opening the door she was met face to face with Maya. "Hello." She greeted kindly.

"Everything alright?" She spoke, her usually raspy voice hinted with a bit of sincerity.

"Yeah, I just needed a second alone." Avalon shook her head quickly, letting out an airy chuckle, as if to say she was alright.

"Okay, just making sure. JD noticed you were gone. I said I'd check if you were here because I was on my way over anyway." She explained.

"Oh okay, I'll make sure to find him and let him know I'm still alive." Avalon joked, resisting the urge to say 'LOL' out loud. It was something she began as a joke, and soon it became a habit. However, she didn't feel like embarrassing herself by using a media acronym in a real conversation with someone she just met minutes ago.

Avalon strolled down the hall back towards the set, and with a final deep breathe, she returned. It had calmed down significantly which she predicted would happen. The first person she looked for was Jonathan, finding him in a conversation about the color orange with Alisha.

"Hey." She approached them slowly, shrugging her shoulders to make sure her bag stayed in place.

"'Sup." Jonathan greeted with a nod and a small smile, Alisha lifting up a hand to wave gently.

"When's food gonna be out?" She pondered, glancing over her shoulder towards the empty buffet table.

"They just made an announcement a couple minutes ago that it'll be out soon. So, soon, I guess." Jonathan took a sip of the water from his red solo cup, stuffing a hand into the pocket of his jeans.

Avalon nodded her head in acknowledgment, "Cool, cool." She turned to her side to properly greet Alisha, but she was already swept off into another conversation with Paris.