Avery Randolph looked like a typical, small town girl. Smart, pretty, soft. She was anything but, proven by going on joyrides on weekends, smoking pot and drinking when she had the chance.
But her domain is challenged when new girl Ginny Miller move...
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TODAY WAS BAD. JUST horrible. Avery felt it when she woke up, felt it when she popped the first Xanax, followed by the lexapro and then when she smoked the first blunt.
It didn't come as a surprise that Abby showed up later that day. They had been texting shortly before the blonde fell asleep at the Baker house and then that morning. Avery was laying on the couch, watching One Tree Hill and feeling drowsy.
"I let myself in."
Avery looked up to see the redhead with a pizza box in her hands and a few bags of candy. "Join the castle of misery," was Avery's reply, gesturing to the other blanket on the couch. Abby ventured into the kitchen and grabbed a pizza cutter and a bowl, before joining the blonde on the couch. "What did you take?"
Avery sighed, feeling the way her throat was sticking together. "Xanny, lexapro, a blunt. And then a shit ton of misery."
The girls looked at each other, before Abby teared up. "My dad moved out last night."
Avery's lips parted. "Oh, Abby." The blonde opened her arms and allowed the redhead to crawl into her embrace, which she did, sniffling softly. Abby couldn't stop crying. "He just upped and left and. . . I knew it was coming, but I didn't want to admit it, you know?"
Denial was a risky thing. The truth could be glaring right at you, shining a light right into your eyes, but then denial would swoop in, placing a black cloth over your eyes and covering your ears for good measure. It was like a numbing sensation, at least until the bandaid was torn off, making the skin underneath red and tender to the touch. Denial was safe, at least, until it wasn't. And it hurt like hell to realize your brain had been right, but the tug in your heart was numb until it finally listened to the reasoning of your brain.
It was something Avery struggled with.
"Can I admit something? And, for the record, we can totally stop talking about it and just watch tv if you want to," began Avery, causing Abby to nod. The blonde sighed. "I'm worried that Sophia's gonna reappear and ruin dad's happiness."
Abby swallowed. "It's valid," she stated. "Sophia's a ruined person, so she tries to ruin other people too."
Avery smiled sadly, tears appearing in her eyes, making them burn. "Parents can be so cruel."
"The cruelest."
ABBY AND AVERY WALKED into Blue Farm, hand in hand. They found the table with the rest of MAANG. Abby opened her mouth, trying to find the right words. She finally settled on a simple 'hi.'
Together, they sat down, after Norah greeted them in return. Abby didn't know what to say. "My parents are getting a divorce."
The other girls, bar Avery, exclaimed small bouts of worry and sympathy. "Yeah. My dad just moved out yesterday." Abby's voice was low and somewhat raspy. Max looked regretful. "Shit," she whispered. Avery was resting her forehead in the palm of one hand, the other gripping onto Abby's tightly. "I'm sorry Abby," said Ginny, "I know firsthand how much that sucks."
Norah's brows furrowed as she looked at both girls. "Are you okay?" she asked. Avery tilted her head up a tear rolling down her cheek. "No, I'm, uh. . . we're not okay." Abby gestured to both herself and Avery, who was sniffling softly. "I've been popping Xannies like breath mints and smoking weed like I don't need my lungs or brain." The girls looked horrified. "Sophia's popping up in my head like an unfriendly ghost I can't get rid of."
"You guys completely abandoned me. Everyone except Abs. We dealt with, or tried to deal with our shit, together." Avery's admission felt like a low blow, even as she said it, but it was true. "We have had the worst week of our lives, and we needed you." Abby was on the brink of tears and so was Avery. "We needed you, and you were too busy."
"You guys are bad friends," blurted Abby.
It felt like Avery's heart was about to burst into flames and she wasn't far away from hyperventilating.
"And this? MAANG? MAANG is dead. So. . ." added the Littman girl on.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but I've had a lot of family stuff to deal with too. It's not just always about the two of you."
Avery sent the Miller girl a look of disbelief and poorly hidden anger. "You are unbelievable. We finally come clean to all of our shit, and you turn it on us? Go to hell, Virginia. Abs, you're more than welcome to stay with me and dad. If he's not too busy banging Georgia."
With that, the blonde stormed off, ignoring Max who called out for her. Avery finally felt the onslaught of tears as she hopped onto her bike and sped off, heading home.
IT WAS QUIET, IN the hospital room, aside from Avery's sniffles as she held onto Marcus' hand. He was asleep, knocked out from the pain of crashing his bike. Avery had initially been getting ready for bed, but she had gotten a call from Ellen, informing the girl about the accident and Avery had quickly gotten her jeans back on, along with one of Marcus' soft, sweatshirts, before leaving the house on her vespa.
Ellen walked in, as quiet as she could, handing the girl a bottle of water. "I talked to the doctor, convinced him to let the two of us stay the night and then we can take him home in the morning."
Avery nodded, taking the bottle of water and placing it between her legs so she could open it. "What happened?" she asked.
Ellen sighed. "He seemed upset when he left the house, saying he needed to see you. I told him to calm down and to walk, to not take the bike, but he wouldn't listen. He was. . ." she trailed off, briefly, before continuing. "It seemed like it was really important."
Avery couldn't contain her soft gasp. Marcus had crashed his bike, because he had to see her. "He could've called, told me to come over, instead of crashing. I told him, over and over, not to drive it until he was at least of age. I told him–" Ellen interrupted her by hugging her close, careful of the open water bottle.
"It's not your fault, honey. It could never be your fault."
"But why–why does it feel that way?"
Avery was sobbing into Ellen's shoulder, feeling the way her throat closed up and became sticky. She hated it. Marcus had gotten hurt, he could've possibly killed himself, all because of his stupid bike and his stupid need to see her.
He could've died.
And as he listened to the sobs of his girlfriend, his eyes still closed, he realized how badly he had messed up.
A/N: Ooh, only about five or six chapters left until part two and let me tell you, I have been STRUGGLING! Between work and getting ready to go back to school to finish my education, I've barely had the mental energy to write. But I'm back and I really want to get started on part two, before I start going back to school.
